Rear axle mounting for road graders



June 22 1926.

F. E. ARNDT REAR AXLE MOUNTING FOR ROAD GRADERS Filed March 18, 1924 5Sheets-Sheet 1 GK km a L gwuanto'c F. E. ARNDT REAR AXLE MOUNTING FOBROAD GRADERS Filed March 18, 1924 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 June 22 E I ii /720p?June 22 1926.

F. E. ARNDT REAR AXLE MOUNTING FOR ROAD GRADERS Filed March 18, 1924 5Sheets-Sheet 5 June 22', 1926 1,589,783

F. E. ARNDT REAR AXLE MOUNTING FOR ROAD GRADERS Filed March 18, 192 sshets shset 4-- June 22 1926.

F. E. ARNDT REAR AXLE MOUNTING FOR ROAD GRADERS Filed March 18, 1924 5geets-Sheet 5 Patented June 22, 1926.

UNITED STATS AFENT OFFECE.

FRANKLIN E. ARNDT, OF GALION, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE GALION IRON WORKS8r.

MFG. (10., OF GALION, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

REAR AXLE MOUNTING FOR ROAD GRADERS.

Application filed March 18, 1924.

This invention relates to road graders, and particularly to that type ofgrader wherein the rear axle is laterally extensible and is pivotallyconnected with the frame so that the rear axle may be adjusted todifferent work to be done.

One of the necessities of structures of this character is that themechanism shall be strong, positive in its action, and readilymanipulated.

The general object of the present invention is to provide a constructionwhich se cures these results, and a further object is to provide axlesupporting means in which the parts are entirely housed so that no dirtcan enter into the gearing.

A still further object is to provide means for firmly locking the axlein its extended position against any sidewise thrust.

Another object is to provide an improved form of box with means forholding the two shafts or spindles in the box in proper spaced relationagainst bending strain and which will have as little contact as possibleith the spindles or racks to thereby reduce friction as much aspossible.

Still another object is to provide improved means whereby the box,holding enclosed the overlapping portions ofthe axle spindles and theirracks, may be pivotally supported on the frame for swinging movement ina horizontal plane, and to provide means for shifting this box which isof such character that it will hold the box from further swingingmovement in either direction.

Other objects have to do with the details of construction andarrangement of parts as will appear more fully hereinafter.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure1 is a top plan view of the rear portion of a road grader constructed inaccordance with my invention;

Figure 2 is a rear elevation of the construction illustrated in Figure1;

Figure 3 is a section on the line 33 of Figure 1;

Figure l is a horizontal longitudinal section through the box withinwhich the respective axle spindles and their respective racks arehoused;

Figure 5 is a perspective'view of the axle housing box showing thevarious parts separated;

vex face of the axle at intervals.

Serial No. 700,118.

Figure 6 is a top plan view of the axle housing box;

Figure 7 is a section on the line 77 of Figure 6;

Figure 8 is a transverse section through the slide which connects theswinging end of the spindle box to the operating screw.

Figure 9 is a top plan view or the construction illustrated in Figure 8;

Figure 10 is a perspective view of one of the locking clutches for oneof the operating shafts;

It will be seen that I have illustrated only so much of a grader as ispertinent to my present invention, it being understood that theinvention applies to road graders such as are used for heavy work andwhich are normally drawn by tractors.

Referring to the drawings, 10 designates the frame beams of the machine,these beams being shown as parallel and as supporting a, platform 11 ofany suitable character, this platform 11 in turn being supported bytransverse beams 13, these being riveted to the extremities of the beams10 and being supported thereby. To these transverse beams 13 areattached the downwardly and centrally extending supporting brackets 14.

Opera-tively supported upon these brackets l i is a box, designatedgenerally 15,

which box is pivotally connected at one end of the supporting frame, aswill be later stated, and at its other end is free to swing. This box isadapted to contain the axles 16 and 17, these axles being illustratedparticularly in Figure 4:. The box, as shown in Figure 5, consistsof atop plate 18, a bottom plate 19, and the opposed side plates 20. Theseside plates are formed channel-shaped in cross section and at intervalsare formed with rounded bosses 21, through which the bolts passwhichhold the top plate, and bottom plates and the side plates together.

Attached to the bottom plate 19 and extending longitudinally thereof anddisposed along the middle thereof is the spacer 22 which is bolted tothe bottom plate, there being bolts passing through the top plate andthus through this spacer. This spacer, as shown in Figure 7, hasvertically con- --cave side faces and longitudinally extending slots 23with vertical concavely opposed rods 2 L so that the spacer only touchesthe con- The upper shafts :27 which carry the pinions :28,

shown in Figure he spacebetween each concave taco ot the spacer and theside wall 521, sutiicient to accommodate any connection with each shaftand rack 29. This rack, as shown most clearly in Figure 4, has a lengthsomewhat greater than the length ot the box within which the rackoperates and each rack is formed adjacent one end *ith the outwardlyconfronting rack teeth 30. The remainder of the rack formed upon itsinner face with recesses 31 intersected by transverse'and longitudinalribs 32 so that the rack, while having a plurality of points of Contactwith the axle spindle 16 01-17, as the case may be, only bears atintervals against the axle spindle but is sutiiciently engaged therewithto prevent any tendency of the axle spindle and the rack to bucklewith'relation to each other The purpose of making these recesses 31 isto lighten the racks without any undue loss of strength. 7

Each rack isattached to the axle spindle its outer end by means of abolt, rivet or the like 33, while the opposite end of each rack extendslaterally to provide an eye 3 lthrough which the axle spindle passes.The pinions 28 mounted upon the shafts 27 engage the teeth of the rackand by turningthese wheels it is obvious that the racks will be shiftedinward or outward and that each rack and its corresponding axle spindlemay be shifted independently of the other rack and spindle.

The detailed means whereby the axle spindles are shifted inward oroutward haw ing been described, I will describe the manner in which thebox is mounted for swinging movement. As shown in Figure 5, the sidemembers are provided each adjacent one end with an outwardly projectingflange or web 35 which is approximately semicircular in form and has adownwardly de jiending marginal flange 36, this marginal flange 36 beingarcuate in form. The brackets 14 which are bolted to the top plate 18have bolted to them the vertically extending'irons 37 having inwardlyextending terminal ends 38 which bear against the under faces of thearcuate flanges 36, as illustrated in Figure and thus support the boxfor rotativemovement.

The opposite end of the box has mounted upon its upper surface by meansof rivets or bolts passing through the holes 39 in the plate 18 thebearing member 40.; This hearingmember, as illustrated in Figure 7, isformed with a circular base flange ll which s riveted, bolted orotherwise attached to he upper plate 18 by bolts 42 passing hrough theperforations 39 and has cen tral hub 3, which at its lower end hears itill t upon the upper face of the plate 18.

liassing through this central hub is tne king bolt 4% which extendsdownward through an aperture in the separator 23 and 7 oi course,downward through the two plates l8 and 19. this bolt having a head atone end and a nut at the other. Extending longi tudinally ot the machineand innnediatel above this member is a guide bar which is attached atits ends in any suital manner to the transversely oxtendi a irons l3,and upon this guide bar there s mounted av slide l? which is illustratedin detail in Figures- 7 and 8. As shown in Figure 8, the slide is formedwith the lateral flanges 4-8 which embrace the side edges of the guideso and are adapted to slide thereon. The side and end walls -19 of thisslide define a rectangular opening wi hin which is disposed a nut 51.The end walls 52 of the member 47 are downwardly recessed or cut away at53, as shown in Figure 8, for the passage of a worm shaft This wormshaft passes through the nut engaging with the thread 55 thereof, andobviously the worm shaft is rotated it will act to shift the nutlongitiulinalh: along the shaft and will thus cans-4e the slide 47 tomove longitudinally along the guide bar 46 and thus shift the free endof the box. Of course it is obvious that under these circumstances thelongitudinal axis of the be): will change its angular relation to theshaft (i l and to the guide bar 46, and it is to this end that the slidehas swivel engagement with the upwardly. projecting hub portion of thebox, as illustrated in Figure 7. It will be ohviousalso that as theshaft 5a is rotated in one direction or the other, the box will be svmngupon center and thus the axle will be disposed at any desiredinclination to the line of dralt't the nut 51 being held from anylongitudinal movement relative to the slide and from any rotarymovement.

For the purpose of operating the shafts 27 which carry the pinions eachshaft, of illustrated in Aigure 3, is upwardly extended, and the pinionis splined upon the shaftso that the shaft is vertically movable withrelation to the pinion 28. T he shaft is mounted in an upstandingU-shapcd frame 56, through which the shaft passes. The shaft is urgeddownward by means of a spring 57 hearing at its upper end against theupper end ol the frame 56 and at its lower end against a collar 58. Thelower end of the shaft carries upon it a collar 59 having downwardlydirected clutch teeth which are adapted to engage with upwardly directedclutch teeth 60 mounted upon an Eco iii-fl angle iron 61, as illustratedin Figure 10, this angle iron being bolted to the frame. Thus it isobvious that when the shaft 27 is forced downward by the spring 57, theclutch teeth on the collar 59 will engage with the clutch teeth 60 tohold the shaft and, therefor, hold the pinion from rotation.

For the purpose of lifting the shaft 27 out of its engagement with thefixed clutch teeth 60, I provide upon the shaft 27 above the upper endof the frame or stand 56, the collar 62 and mount upon the upper face ofthe stand 56 the cam member 63 having a cam whose face is concentric tothe axis of the shaft 27, this face being spiral or helical. Disposedbetween the collar 62 and this cam member 63 is a rotatable cam member(it, the under face of which is helical and. fits the helical face ofthe cam 63. This cam member 64: is provided with the out-' standing arm65 whereby this cam may be rotated. Obviously upon a rotation of the camin one direction, the shaft 27 will be raised so as to free it from theclutch teeth (34) and, therefore, the shaft may be rotated by means ofthe wheel 67 or through other suitable means to that end. On the otherhand, when the handle 65 is turned in the opposite direction, the shaft27 will be lowered and engaged from any rotative movement, therebylocking the pinions 28 and locking the spindles 16 and 17 and theircoacting racks.

It will be seen from Figure 2 that there are two of these shafts 27located at opposite ends of the box 15 and thus each axle spindle may beshifted outward or inward independently of the other axle spindle andthus both wheels may be shifted outward to increase the transverse wheelbase of the ve hiole or one may be shifted outward and the other left inits normal position. The purpose of thus shifting these wheels outwardis to permit one of the wheels, for instance, to operate beyond theearth which has been cast up by the grader from a ditch or to permit onewheel to travel upon the road itself while the other wheel travels uponthe bank at the side of the road. There are a large variety ofcircun'istances which demand this independent adjustment of the two rearwheels and this mechanism puts these two rear wheels under the completecontrol of the operator so that they may be adjusted at any time with aminimum of effort.

For the purpose of swinging the box 15 which supports the two axlespindles, I prothe screw shaft 54, this shaft being supported insuitable bearings 67, and the shaft carries at its extremity the beveledgear wheel. 68 which meshes with a beveled gear wheel. 69 carried at thelower end of a vertical operating shaft 70 which is supported in. asuitable bracket 71 which extends upward and is provided with a handwheel 72. This shaft 70 is disposed at the rear end of the machine, asillustrated in Figure 1. Inasmuch as the shaft 5% is screw-threaded andoperates on a nut, it obvious that it in itself locks the box 15 in itsadjusted position, and it will further be obvious that thisscrew-threaded shaft 54: and the nut together give a very powerfulaction upon the box 15 to shift it and that this is increased by thefact that this nut is operatively connected to that end of the box 15remote from the pivotal center thereof.

The purpose of shifting the rear axle composedof the box 15 and thewheel spindles l6 and 1.7 is to adjust the axle to whatever kind of workis being done. Thus when widening a road or cutting down a bank besidethe road, the grader has a. tendency to slide away from the work, but bypivot ing the axle the operator compels the grader to crowd against thework and hold it in its proper place. In this way the work is donequickly and well. The pivot axle is used not only to overcome the sidedraft but to guide the machine, it being shifted just enough to hold themachine exactly where desired. By using a pivoted axle, the front andrear trucks of a grader can always be kept in perfect alignment and thusthe rear end of the grader is prevented from sliding sidewise, whichcauses heavy draft and an uneven wear on the spindles. If the axle isshifted just enough to overcome the side draft, the wheels will wearevenly on the spindles, thus insuring a much lighter pull.

It will be seen that a mechanism constructed in accordance with thisinvention is very simple and yet strong, that the action is positive,and that the parts are locked in their adjusted position. The rear axlemay be readily assembled.

lVhile I have illustrated a constructioi'i which in its general form andin details has been found to be particularly effective for heavy dutyroad graders as well as light duty road graders, I do not wish to belimited to the details as it is obvious that these might be changed inmany ways without departing from the spirit of the invention as definedin the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A grader including a supporting frame, a rear axle comprising an openended box. two wheel spindles having racks and extend in into oppositeends of the box, pinions mounted in the ends of the box and engagingsaid racks, a shaft for each pinion splined therein and adapted to havelongitudinal movement through the corresponding pinion, a supportingmember for each shaft, a clutch member mounted on said supportingmember, a clutch-toothed member fixed on the shaft and confronting theopposed clutch member, and springs urging said shafts in a direction tocarry the clutching members into engagement with each other.

2. A grader including i supporting it lune and :1 rear axle eomprisingan open-ended he); and e nu silly disposed separator forming part of thebox and extendi e hereof, this sepsrator L ,i concave on op; osed fee-esthe the be being bee and extending invmrcl'fren opposite end ed withindie thereof and each a e spindle extendii the entire length oi: the box,tie spin dies heui'ig against the cone-ave feces (f. the separ tor, ksoperetirely attached t: the axle spi es upon outer f re thereo and netthe st hi d within t pinions indepei narrator, reeks. operativelyattached to the axle Jaindles u on the outer face thereof and he againstthe side Walls of the box, pinions disposed Within the box and engagingsaid racks, and manually operable means for r0- teting each or" saidpinions independently of the other, each of said racks beinglongitudinally recessed upon its innerfaee Whereby to touch the shaft atu plurality of points in the length thereof.

45 A graifler inc riding a rear axle eomprisin a supporting frame,

casing menuailv J extensiiue wheel E111('il8$ mourted therein, means forswuipin upport the V :u'ijaeent one 01- i t in women: in a horizon telplane, menus for manually oscillating the other end of the earningincludi 1;; a longitudinally extending Worm, and it nutour ried thereby,the nut being swiveliy connected to the casing.

5. J1 grader ineluding a supporting frame and :1 rear axle eoinprising2L casing, manuully' extensible Wheel s iindle mounted ther in, meunsfor swingingiy supporting the casing; ndjucent one end for i'iioveinentin a horizon al plane, means for manually oscillating the other end or".the casing including a nut swirelly connected to the casing at one endthereof, worm exiending through the nut and-inchuling manually operablemeans whereby the worm may be rotated, and a trens v'ersely -;-;tend-ingguide for the nut.

6. A grinder including a supporting frame sum a rear axle, a casingwithin which the r axle disposed, the casing being mounted adjacent oneend upon the frame for oscill tmn in a horizontal plane, a meml l on,upon the other end ,4 nut loos" Y carried by said om rotation, themember nut, a worm passing:

.. 1 wtee throng: "tension of said IHQEf'r her i Y rut :rid operetirclengaging t letter, and :2 guide passing ihroi 1 7 of said in-einher aridframe. a supportm" di ig opeireuued urging t one end upon the tizune pemitting of the easing laterdl" extendin wh il rotate; u ppi or oseillataround huh, i eupportei 1 Stud member, a said nut, xed guide I thesupporting and with memhtr engages.

r inchu' in a supporting huh, r. nut )rted upon the s. 1

21 nut l trznue,

a trans er el extenihng opeirended casing swingii supported at one endupon the frame supporting frzine permitting longi movement of thecasing, laterzalltv 'ihie wheel spindles mounted in the e, 1Q), mnnuallyoperable means for ilependently shifting each of said Wheel Spi dies, amember hat-h1g5 an upwardly ex- ,Kiillff hub and mounted upon said frameadjacent the end remote from the first nzuned point of support, a nutcerryi member supported upon he using concentrio to the hub andoscillatable uround the letter; i'neans lolding said nut tnrrvingrmeniluir from detachment i om the hub but permitting al pie y, a nut loojly cur i'ied by said member, and a inuius'zlly operable no 111eiitending through the member s nut.

. 2 iclu; in SHPPOItiDQ: frame,

:1 trznisversely ex ling open-ended casing gingly supported at one end.upon the iixnie said s ort 1 ermitting longitudinal oi easing, late'ully extensible using, humua'ly o ,ierable means for indepemflentlysluttng each of said Wheel epindles, a member raving an lup'wardlyextending hub and mounted upon said frame adjacent the end e1 rote fromthe first named point of su o t a nut 21 Tying member sup )orte-cl uponcasing concentric to the hub and oscilnahle around the latter, meansholding said nut carrying member from detachment from the hub butpermitting vertical play, said member being formed to provide a nutsocket and laterally disposed, upwardly e. tending walls on each side ofsaid socket, the walls at their upper ends defining a passage, amanually operable worm extend-- ing through the space between said wallsand through said nut and engaging the lat ter, and a fixed guide rodoperatively mounted upon the supporting frame and passing through thespace between said side walls and abore the nut.

10. A grader including a supporting frame, a transversely extendingopen-ended casing having at one end laterally projecting ears, each ofsaid ears being approximately semi-circular, members carried by thesupporting frame and extending beneath each of said ears and supportingthe casing to thereby permit oscillatory movement of the casing, a hubextending upward from the opposite end of the casing, a bolt passingthrough the hub and having washer projecting out beyond the hue, amember having a longitudinally extending p: age and a downwardlyextending, hollow, central portion into which said hub projects tothereby mount said member upon the hub for oscillation therearound, theupper end of said hollow portion being formed to provide a nut seat, anut carried in the seat, a worm extending through said member andthrough the nut, a guide extending through said member above the nut andmounted upon the supporting frame, and manually operable means forrotating said worm in one direction or the other.

11. A grader including a supporting frame, a transversely extendingopen-ended casing mounted at the rear thereof, the easing havinglaterally projecting, semi-circular ears and the frame having downwardlyextending members extending beneath the ears and forming means forswingingly sup- 3-OCi -g the casing, longitudinally shiftable e spindlesmounted within the casing, racks attached to said axle spindles,manually operable pinions disposed within the casing and engaging saidracks whereby the axle spindles may be ind endcntly shifted in onedirection or the other, the opposite end of the casing being formed toprovide an upwardly extending hub-like portion, a nut ca rying memberhaving a downwardly projecting, central, tubular, hollow baseoscillatably mounted upon the hub-like memher, a bolt passing throughthe casing and through the hub and having an outwardly projecting washerpermitting limited vertical movement of the nut carrying member androtary movement of the nut carrying member around the hub, the nutcarrying member being formed to provide a socket for a nut, upwardlyextending side walls having inwardly extending 'langes at their upperends, a manually operable worm passing through the space between saidwalls and through said nut and operatively mounted upon the supportingframe, and a transversely extending guide bar mounted upon thesupporting frame, and extending between said walls and immediatelybeneath said flanges.

In testimony whereof I my signature.

FRANKLIN E. ARNDT.

